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Glad you are here, invite friends who are Flames or Bruins fans as well, it is a good place to hang out.

I like the Flames with tempered enthusiasm, they play in the rugged West in which a team could win the conference or finish out of the playoffs depending on the breaks, it is just so deep and deadly. The ducks losing Perry for the next five months certainly doesn't hurt your boys.

As for the flames additions this year, Lindholm hanst yet proven to be more than a 40ish point producer and I think he might get a slight bump but that is about it, ryan is useful in a Swiss army knife kind of way, he can play up and down the lines in all situations but is solid, just unspectacular. Hanifin could be a star but the cost of Hamilton for him is a bit high IMHO. Neal, I don't care for the term but he is a very solid player who should slot into the top six offering secondary scoring behind the Monahan/Gaudreau line something they sorely lacked.

I love the reuniting of Gio and Brodie, Giordano being one of my favorite players in the game, the two of them play off each other perfectly, if Hanifin is paired with Hamonic, a veteran cagy defender who knows to stay in his role Hanifin could excel giving the Flames great depth on the back end.

One of my least favorite players is goalie Smith who a) is always hurt and B) has this thing he has done his entire career which drives me nuts, when the other team is sustaining pressure he flops and feigns a minor injury to stop play and slow momentum, then he 'gamely' gets up after a few minutes and continues the game usually to applause from the fans for the effort. I have watched him do this for a decade and keep waiting on a delay of game call by an official but it has never happened, lol. I do like Gillies who will probably be the starter by years end at least until Parsons pushes him out.

Anyway, my guess is a 7 or 8 playoff seed is possible and even likely provided that they avoid injuries and the new guys are what they have always been, Neal just needs his usual 25 goals and grit, Ryan just needs to play his game, Hanifin simply needs to continue to mature and Lindholm if he gets 45 points will be an improvement over Frolik.

Living just south of boston, I have to purchase the NHL Centre Ice package every year, wanna see every Flames game, and it sucks with a 10 pm est start....thank god for dvr.

I was not a fan of GG and I hope Peters proves to be a solid hire...I expect nothing less than the playoffs, however, the west is tough.

I HATED GG, he choked away a big lead down the stretch a couple of times in Dallas to miss the playoffs and somehow managed to land on his feet in Calgary. I thought firing Hartley was a mistake, he is an excellent coach for young talented players but as they got a bit older they quit listening which happens.

As for Peters, I admit a bit of bias as a Wings fan but he cut his teeth in Motown as an assistant to Babcock and was highly thought of throughout the organization and I feel he did a very good job in Carolina, making a silk purse of a sows ear with some of the worst goaltending in the game always hanging around the peripheral of the playoffs and falling a bit short with a team with no true 1C or even a 2C and lousy netminding. I think he is a great grab for your boys.

Game # 1

FLAMES FALL IN OPENER

Tkachuk and Monahan score in loss to Canucks

On opening night, a squall of anticipation, hope and excitement reigns across the NHL's 31 cities.

The first goal.

First win.

A feeling like no other.

The Flames, though, will have to wait a bit longer to satisfy some of those early-season milestones.

2017 first-round pick Elias Pettersson scored the first of his NHL career before adding an assist to pace the Canucks offensively in a 5-2 win over the Flames at Rogers Arena.

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and

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had the goals for Calgary, while

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made 18 saves to keep the Flames in it throughout.

Nikolay Goldobin, Brendan Leipsic, Jake Virtanen and Tyler Motte had the other markers for the Canucks, who scored thrice in the opening 5:46 of the third period to take control of an otherwise close contest.

The Flames had numerous opportunities to break through offensively, but the powerplay struggled, finishing 0-for-7 on the night.

"For us, there's no excuse,"

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said of the struggling man-advantage. "We've practiced it enough. We should have been a little more crisp.

"They did a good job on our entries. We were getting stuck at the line; we weren't coming with enough speed and then we were getting frustrated. … It was deflating our bench a little bit.

"We score one of those goals early and it's a different game."

Pettersson drew first blood for the homeside with a top-shelf snipe at 13:48 of the opening period. Making his NHL debut after a standout season in the Swedish Hockey League last year, the 19-year-old took a Loui Eriksson pass in full flight, carried it down the right side, looked off on a 2-on-1 and rifled a shot over Smith's glove hand.

After a scoreless middle stanza, the Canucks opened up a two-goal lead less than two minutes into the third. An Eriksson point shot was knocked down in front by

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, but Pettersson corralled the bouncing puck, spotted Goldobin at the side of the net, and feathered a pass through a maze and onto the tape for the one-time tally.

Leipsic made it a three-goal game just 28 seconds later as he shoveled home a loose puck at the lip of the blue paint after Smith made a great pad save off a Jay Beagle tip in front.

In short order, Tkachuk pulled the visitors back in the game with a knuckler from the far boards, following a nifty cross-box feed from

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, at 3:08.

Virtanen restored the Canucks' three-goal edge at 5:46 after stepping out of the box and charging in alone. The former Hitmen star made a slick move to the forehand and stuffed a quick shot five-hole.

"Give them credit. They were in our face and played their system to a tee," Smith said. "Obviously, we didn't play the way we're capable of, so there's room for improvement there. Lots of games left and there's no need to panic here."

Monahan cut the deficit again for the Flames as he punched home a

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pass in tight to make it 4-2, inspiring a manic late-game push that saw the visitors pepper the Canucks' netminder with a number of 10-bell chances.

In all, the Flames had 17 third-period shots.

"We started making a push, but (we made) a couple mistakes, and they were opportunistic," said captain

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, who led all skaters with 14 shot attempts (five on goal).

"Whenever you get down, you start pressing and it makes for some chances, but we gave up way too many quality chances in our zone.

"It's not good enough. They were the team with more energy tonight and it seemed like they were willing to do the little things better than us."

Yea, I wouldn't put a ton of stock into how good or bad the Flames will be just based on this game.
Of course, it's not the way Calgary envisioned starting out the season, but player for player, I think the Flames have the better roster currently over a team like Vancouver.

I mentioned this in the shoutbox, but while I won't be saying Calgary makes the top 8 in the West, they should, at the very least compete for a spot, whereas I think Vancouver will ultimately find themselves at the bottom of the Conference when all is said n done.

The Canucks aren't particularly good on defense (though they looked the part in the game vs Calgary), their goaltending is very suspect with Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson, and they will certainly have trouble finding consistent scoring throughout the year...NOT a good recipe for long term success over 82 games.

Calgary, on the other hand, DOES have players that, if all goes well and injuries don't wreck the team, CAN play some D, score from the defense, have a good top six with potential to be high scoring on some nights, and are solid in goal....Mike Smith's health being the biggest enemy.

Also, if the Flames can somehow make their PP a bit more potent (it was definitely bottom tier last season), it would go a long way towards making the team more playoff viable.

I think, just looking at the rosters, the Flames are behind the Sharks and Knights in the division, maybe a hair behind the Kings (or maybe on par, but Smith vs Quick and the tough LA defense is hard to argue against), and who knows WHICH Edmonton Oiler team shows up this year....but Calgary, on paper at least, should be ahead of the Coyotes and Canucks....and the Ducks, well, they should be higher, but I wonder if they fall too far behind early on with all the injuries they have had to key guys already, if they can recover in time.

So yea, Game 1 against the "lowly" Canucks didn't go so well, but the flip side is, they still got 81 more games to get to where they want to be.

"Monny's a goal-scoring center and Johnny's a play-making winger," Peters said. "It used to be your center made plays and your winger scored goals, so they've got that a little bit flip-flopped. That's fine."

Flames starter Mike Smith made 16 saves for the win, while Markstrom had 30 saves in the loss.

Elias Pettersson scored two goals and assisted on another for the Canucks, who beat the visiting Flames 5-2 in Wednesday's season-opener.

The 19-year-old Swede has five points in his first two career NHL games.

"Dynamite," Canucks head coach Travis Green said. "He was our best player tonight. He was one of the bright spots in the game. A few guys played OK. We had some guys that needed to play better."

Brandon Sutter scored a short-handed goal and Bo Horvat had a goal for Vancouver, which led 4-3 heading into the third period.

Monahan's power-play goal at 9:27 of the third tied the game at 4-4. After the center redirected a cross-ice pass from Gaudreau by Markstrom, Smith robbed Goldobin with a glove save.

Penalized for hauling down Pettersson near Calgary's net late in the second period, Flames defenseman Michael Stone joined Giordano in the penalty box and the Canucks had a two-man advantage.

Horvat redirected Pettersson's feed for a power-play goal at 16:57.

Tkachuk tucked the puck into the corner of Vancouver's net during a goal-mouth scramble, but a coach's challenge wiped out the goal in the second period.

But Gaudreau then banged in a rebound off a Monahan shot for a power-play goal at 9:31 to even the score 3-3.

Pettersson scored his second goal with a shot from the face-off circle at 2:52 on the power-play.

Giordano tied the game 2-2 at 17:08 of the first period. Calgary's captain beat Markstrom with a wrist shot from the top of the face-off circle.

The visitors led 2-1 on a Sutter's short-handed goal at 16:38. He beat Smith with a shot under the arm on a 2-on-1.

Pettersson swept the puck by Smith's glove from the slot at 13:50 for his first goal of the night.

Lindholm scored his first goal just 12 seconds after the opening puck drop.

After winning the offensive-zone faceoff, the Swede tipped T.J. Brodie's wrist shot from the boards by Markstrom.

The visitors put in an impressive performance in Nashville to beat the defending Presidents' Trophy winners 3-0 Tuesday night, their seventh win in their last eight games against the Preds.

They went 2-0 last season against the Central Division powerhouse.

Once again, it was the big guns doing the damage for the Flames - who won their second straight game to improve to 2-1 on the season - with Sean Monahan scoring twice and Elias Lindholm adding another; linemate Johnny Gaudreau getting an assist on all three tallies.

Monahan has four goals and Lindholm three in the club's first three games this season.

Gaudreau, meanwhile, has seven points over that span.

Mike Smith was stellar, turning aside all 43 shots he faced for his 37th career shutout.

"Obviously it starts with Smitty, he played great for us," said Monahan, quick to give credit to his 'tender. "When you get goaltending like that it makes you go even more (motivated). So I think you start to play for him and you get some timely goals. I think we played good all around."

Calgary's special teams certainly lived up to their name, going 2-for-4 on the powerplay and a perfect 4-0 on the PK.

The Flames came out like gangbusters in the first period, controlling the majority of play and often hemming the Preds in their zone for prolonged periods.

Austin Czarnik had a great chance to open the scoring less than a minute in when he showed his dazzling speed by beating PK Subban to a puck inside the Nashville zone but was tripped up by the defenceman as he cut towards the net which led to a Flames powerplay.

Later, Czarnik got another good crack at Rinne but the defending Vezina Cup winner flashed the leather to rob him.

Gaudreau fed Monahan on a nifty play with less than five minutes left in the period but Monahan was unable to tuck the puck between Rinne's wickets on a backhand, hooked my Mattias Ekholm in the process which led to the Flames second powerplay of the game.

On the ensuing man-up chance, Johnny Hockey brought the puck up to the Predators blueline and toe-dragged around Colton Sissons and sailed down the wing, sliding a long cross-ice pass to Lindholm who fired it off the post and in, high and short-side past Rinne.

Then things got a little weird in the second period.

Subban coughed up the puck in the neutral zone and Lindholm grabbed it and fed Monahan on a partial breakway. Rinne stopped his shot but Sam Bennett poked the puck into the net.

However, the goal was waived off as there was a whistle right before Monahan's shot, as the Preds were tagged with a too many men penalty.

Fittingly, Monahan scored on the following powerplay when Rinne made a save on Matthew Tkachuk's shot from the middle of the high slot but the rebound landed right at his skates and he flipped the puck home.

Midway through the second, the team had a stellar penalty-kill, keeping the Preds from scoring on a full two-minute, two-man advantage when both Tkachuk and Michael Stone were sent to the box for tripping.

"Huge, huge at that time of the game," said Smith. "To kill two minutes straight 5-on-3 says a lot about the character of our group, our penalty killers, they did a tremendous job in front of me blocking shots and getting important clears and that momentum carried through the rest of the game."

Smith was a wall in the middle stanza, turning aside 21 Nashville shots.

Monahan made it 3-0 just 32 seconds into the third, when he tried to pass the puck on a two-on-one to Lindholm and it went off the defenceman's skate and past Rinne.

"Our powerplay was good tonight again, PK did a great job, especially that 5-on-3," said Gaudreau. "We were smart with the puck, getting in their zone and playing down low in their zone. Found a way to get a couple of goals, take get the lead and just keep playing the same way throughout the game."

Before the game, Blues coach Mike Yeo moved Perron up to the second line with Schenn and

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.

"It's quite different for sure," Perron said. "Kind of what I was used from last year. It's great. I thought (Steen's) goal really gave us some energy, too. It was good."

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,

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and

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scored for the Flames.

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was pulled following the second period after allowing five goals on 24 shots.

Perron gave the Blues a 2-1 lead midway through the first period. Edmundson, making his season debut after missing the first two games with a sore groin, made it 3-1 Blues with 2:38 left in the first, beating Smith high glove side.

Perron's second goal early in the second made it 4-1. Smith misplayed the puck behind the net, allowing Schenn to steal it and find Perron alone in front with an empty net.

"He's known to go play the puck and it just bounced on him," Schenn said. "I saw the D-man over my right shoulder and I knew I couldn't take it to the net and I saw Perron at full speed and I was just able to get it to him."

Perron, playing in his third stint with the Blues, completed the hat trick with 35 seconds left in the second. His last hat trick also came at Calgary's expense on Oct. 22, 2016.

"It feels great for sure," Perron said. "We had a good practice week and I think that a lot of people were starting to panic (with the slow start) but I don't think the players were."

Neal gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 7:32 of the first.

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set it up with a nice move in front, causing Allen to commit and leaving an opening for Neal.

"I put pressure on myself to score every night and it's nice to get my first one in a Flames jersey," Neal said.

Steen answered for the Blues just 16 seconds later. The goal gave Steen 453 career points, surpassing

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for seventh in Blues history.

Allen got help from his post on

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's penalty shot late in the first period. He also made several tough saves as the Blues killed off a 5-on-3 for 1:35 late in the second period.

"It was big, didn't give them any momentum, which was huge," Allen said. "So I think that was the biggest thing at the end of the day what came out of it. If they got a goal out of it that may have generated a little more positivity on their side so it was nice to shut that down."

Ryan and Backlund scored in the third for Calgary to cut the deficit to two.

put in a goal in the first minute of overtime, lifting the Flames to a 3-2 victory over the

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on Saturday night.

Calgary trailed 2-0 on first-period goals by Colorado's

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and

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, who scored 11 seconds into the game. But the Flames regrouped after a timeout following the Avalanche's second goal and a pep talk from their coach, Bill Peters.

"He said that there was plenty of time left and we had to get skating," Flames defenseman

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said. "We weren't even moving the first few shifts, it felt like. But give them credit. That's one of the fastest lines I think I've played against, that MacKinnon line. I thought as the game went on, we did a really good job. That's a huge two points for us."

Before long, Calgary was taking the attack to Colorado and exerting relentless pressure on goalie

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. Of 41 shots in the game by the Flames, 31 were taken in the second and third periods and OT. The Avalanche, meantime, struggled to penetrate the Calgary zone, getting off only nine of their 26 shots after the first period.

"The last two periods is when we stopped playing offensive hockey. We weren't playing aggressive hockey, which is the way we can play,"

Colorado's

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said. "We want to play fast. We see what happens when we play fast. In the first five, 10 minutes of the first period obviously, we were doing pretty good and then we kind of just laid off the gas. All of a sudden, we started making soft plays and it wasn't good enough."

Lindholm sent the game into OT by forcing a turnover in the Colorado zone, taking the puck up close and firing it past Varlamov for the equalizer.

Colorado couldn't stop Gaudreau on a breakaway. He got behind the Avalanche defense and knocked home the game-winner from up close.

"I had kind of a clear breakaway there, tried to fake the shot and come all the way across and found his five-hole," Gaudreau said.

"I think we played better after the timeout. Everyone knew we needed to be better and coach said there was a lot of time left in the game. We beared down and found a way to win."

Calgary broke through for its first goal at 10:52 of the second to pull to within 2-1. Varlamov stopped a shot from

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but the puck popped loose in front of the net.

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charged through the slot and got his stick on the puck, shoving it into the net for the score.

Colorado broke on top with two quick goals in the first period, the first coming 11 seconds into the game. Landeskog won the game-opening faceoff and sent the puck into the Calgary zone.

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sent a shot to the net that goalie

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saved but he couldn't corral the rebound, which found MacKinnon's stick.

MacKinnon wristed the puck into the net for his sixth goal of the season. The goal by MacKinnon equaled the franchise record for most consecutive games (5) with a goal to start a season set by

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in 1992-93

J.T. Compher capitalized on a Calgary turnover to score Colorado's second goal at 2:40 of the first. Defenseman

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lost a puck in the Calgary zone when it bounced over his stick and Compher swept in to carry the puck down the ice before knocking it into the net up high for the score.

Mikael Backlund and Michael Stone each had two assists as Calgary won its second straight home game. Goaltender Mike Smith stopped 24 of 26 shots in the win.

"I like the fact we have the ability to generate offense. Now, we'll work on other things," Calgary coach Bill Peters said. "We're not quite there defensively or our play away from the puck in the neutral zone, but when we get there, we'll be a much better team."

Patrice Bergeron had a goal and an assist for the Bruins. Brad Marchand also scored. Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask turned away 24 shots in the loss.

"I don't think we were as clean as we needed to be obviously against a team that forechecks and checks well," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "That was clearly an issue throughout the game. Execution wasn't good enough to beat a good hockey team."

The Bruins trailed 4-2 heading into the final period.

Marchand was lightly defended when he scored at 13:45 of the second, taking a pass from Bergeron and scoring past Smith.

Frolik nearly completed a hat trick on a short-handed breakaway, but his backhanded shot sailed over the Boston net. The Czech's second goal came results from a Boston turnover in the offensive zone. Backlund flipped the puck across the slot, and Frolik tapped it over Rask's stick at 3:32.

On Boston's first rush after killing off Calgary's two-man advantage, Bergeron scored at 2:40 on a give-and-go with David Krejci.

What appeared to be a goal by David Pastrnak late in the first period didn't survive a coach's challenge by Calgary's Bill Peters. The Bruins were ruled offside.

Valimaki's first NHL goal gave the Flames a 3-0 lead at 16:08 of the first period.

With Sam Bennett in front of Rask, the 20-year-old Valimaki's shot from the top of the circle rolled over the goaltender and over the goal line.

"I was happy actually finding out it was mine. Pretty awkward moment at the start because I didn't know it was mine," Valimaki said. "All the guys on the bench said `it's yours' and it felt great."

Gaudreau collected his milestone goal at 15:20. At the top of the crease, Sean Monahan batted the puck down low to the winger, and Gaudreau scored from a tough angle.

Frolik had half an open net for a target following a nice passing play by Tkachuk and Backlund. Tkachuk hustled into the offensive zone to backhand the puck to Backlund, who was moving into the slot. Backlund flipped the puck over to Frolik to score at 4:36.

Game notes

Flames: Gaudreau crumpled after taking a high hit from Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy in the third period. Gaudreau played another shift, but was then pulled from the game for concussion protocol. Calgary head coach Bill Peters did not have an update on Gaudreau after the game.

on his blocker side with a perfect wrist shot into the top corner at 6:31 of the third to give Nashville a 4-3 lead.

In career game No. 335 for the 28-year-old, it was only Rinaldo's 15th goal.

"That's what I live for. That's what I play for. I play for pride. I play for the team," Rinaldo said.

It was the fourth time Nashville took the lead in a back-and-forth game. This time, they held it.

"The bench was pumped up," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "Just a great, great play. We ended up catching numbers going the other way. He made the right decision, made a great shot."

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, who stopped all nine shots he faced in relief of

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, said he's seen that release from Rinaldo before.

"I know he has a good shot," said Saros, who is 3-0-0. "We've seen that many times in practice."

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and

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each had a goal and an assist, and

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and

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also scored to help Nashville win its fourth straight.

Forsberg sealed the win with an empty-netter with 32 seconds left.

"We're feeling good," Johansen said. "We understand it's a long season and there's a big process, but we're just going to keep the pedal down and keep continuing to get better."

Rinne had 15 saves on 18 shots before leaving with just under 15 minutes left in the third.

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got his team-leading fifth goal for Calgary, and

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and

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also scored. Smith finished with 25 saves.

Nashville took the lead four times with Calgary answering back to tie it three times.

Calgary had a great opportunity to tie up it once again at 4-4 when

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set up Bennett at the side of the net with a hard pass, but the puck went wide of the open cage

.

"I'm going to have some nightmares about that one I missed, but that's the way it goes," Bennett said.

Down 3-2 entering the third, the Flames pulled even at 2:20 when

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wired a perfect feed to Sam Bennett, who was breaking in off the wing and went to his backhand to neatly beat Rinne.

While Rinne was stretching to try and stop the puck, Fiala landed on top of the goalie in an awkward-looking collision. Rinne stayed in the game briefly, but came to the bench at 5:09 and after talking with the training staff went to the dressing room.

Saros was excellent in relief, getting tested just seconds after he arrived in the crease. Off the ensuing faceoff, he had to jab out his right pad to rob Lindholm to keep the score tied.

Trailing 2-1, Calgary tied the score on the power play with 7:09 left in the second as Lindholm's shot caromed in off Tkachuk's skate.

Fiala put Nashville back ahead with 5:37 to go in the middle period as the Predators converted their first power-play opportunity of the night, courtesy of a double-minor for high-sticking on former teammate James Neal.

Nashville struck first, scoring 51 seconds into the game.

TJ Brodie lost his stick along the sideboards and in going to retrieve it, allowed a 2-on-1 in front that was converted by Johansen.

Calgary went over 16 1/2 minutes between shots in the first, with Lindholm snapping the streak, burying

NEW YORK -- The Calgary Flames have had trouble winning in New York in recent seasons. Opportunistic scoring and stellar goaltending changed that on this trip.

Johnny Gaudreau and Garnet Hathaway each scored twice and backup goalie David Rittich made 44 saves as the Flames snapped a six-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden with a 4-1 victory over the Rangers on Sunday night.

"I felt great and I want to say thank you to my defense," said Rittich, who won for the second time this season as the Flames improved to 5-3-0 and scored three or more goals for the seventh straight game. "We know we had to be better in the third period and we got the two points."

Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers, the last-place team in the Metropolitan Division at 2-5-1.

Gaudreau opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark of the first period, backhanding the puck past Henrik Lundqvist. Sean Monahan picked up the assist.

Hathaway made it 2-0 at 12:21 of the second with his first goal this season. Gaudreau scored again at 14:55, extending the lead to 3-0 with his fifth of the season. Flames captain Mark Giordano assisted on the score, which was Gaudreau's 300th career point.

"It's a cool accomplishment," the 25-year-old Gaudreau said of the milestone. "Obviously, it makes it better with the team winning when you get an accomplishment like that, as well."

The Rangers were coming off an overtime loss at Washington on Wednesday after winning in a shootout over Colorado the previous night. The Rangers have had trouble scoring goals under new coach David Quinn.

New York has yet to win in regulation. The Rangers have just 19 goals in their first eight games, including one shootout win and one in overtime.

"We have to find ways to score goals." Quinn said. "We've got to be more tenacious with our shooting mentality. It's frustrating."

Rittich, an undrafted 26-year-old goaltender from the Czech Republic, made 12 saves in the first period, 13 in the second and 19 in the third.

"We played better as the game went along and Ritter was great," Hathaway said. "To have a player like that is a big part of this team."

Rittich's lone blemish was Zibanejad's power-play goal at 6:41 of the third. Zibanejad's third goal this season was assisted by Neal Pionk and Mats Zuccarello.

The Rangers had an excellent chance to narrow the deficit just over a minute later, but Rittich made successive saves on Jesper Fast and Zibanejad. Rittich denied Filip Chytil on a backhand from the slot with four minutes left.

Hathaway completed the scoring for the Flames with his second goal at 18:07 of the third.

"It's too bad. I feel like these types of games are starting to add up, unfortunately," said Lundqvist, who made 22 saves in defeat. "We are playing good enough to win games but we are not finding ways to win games. It's obviously something we need to change fast."

Zuccarello echoed Lundqvist's growing angst as the Rangers struggle to get wins.

"We created a lot of chances and we can sit here and say that we didn't play a bad game, but we lost," said the 31-year-old Norwegian forward who leads the Rangers with six assists. "So, it's not good enough. We have to come to practice, talk about it and see what can do better."

The Rangers came into the contest with a 10-1-1 record against the Flames, starting with a 2-1 win at home on Nov. 22, 2010.

Gaudreau, who leads the Flames with 12 points, was a teammate of Ranger forwards Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider at Boston College when the Eagles won the national championship.

Gaudreau was a fourth-round pick by the Flames in the 2011 draft. He has points in seven of Calgary's eight games, so far.

"We found a way to score a goal towards the end of the first period, got our legs moving in the second and found a couple goals," Gaudreau added. "Ritter obviously played really well for us tonight."

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Brendan Gallagher gets the pass in front of the net and redirects it win to help the Canadiens beat the Flames 3-2.

MONTREAL -- Calgary goalie David Rittich did everything he could to keep the Flames in contention with Montreal, but the Canadiens were just too much Tuesday night.

Jeff Petry and Jonathan Drouin each had a goal and an assist, leading Montreal to a 3-2 win over the Flames, the Canadiens' fourth win in five games.

Brendan Gallagher also scored for the Canadiens, who have lost once in eight games this season. Carey Price made 21 saves.

After a 44-save performance against the New York Rangers in his last time out, Rittich made 37 saves in the losing effort. The Czech goalie was, by far, Calgary's best player, keeping the score close while his teammates failed to generate enough offence.

"He's not God out there," Matthew Tkachuk said of his goalie. "He can't stop everything. At one point, they're just going to go in. They keep getting these chances. Eventually it's going to go in.

"It was a bad effort after we got away with one in New York because of our goalie. And maybe tonight we can return him the favor and play well and bail him out, but the opposite again."

Michael Frolik and Elias Lindholm scored for the Flames.

The Flames jumped to a 1-0 lead at 16:46 of the first period when Tkachuk's shot bounced off Frolik's skate and past Price.

Rittich was outstanding at the start and did what he could to preserve Calgary's lead. At one point, the 26-year-old goaltender made four saves on four Canadiens players in a two-second span in the second period.

"Right from the start you could see how sharp he was again," Flames captain Mark Giordano said. "Tough not to get points tonight when your goalie's that good and holding you in it for as long as he did.

"You can't keep chasing games. It's not a good thing to do in this league. Eventually it's going to come back to bite you. We chased the game all night."

But Montreal was relentless in the second period. Aided by four consecutive Calgary penalties, the Canadiens scored three goals in a 3:21 span.

With TJ Brodie in the box for interference, Petry fired a one-timer from the faceoff dot that beat Rittich at 15:50. The point was Petry's 100th in a Canadiens uniform.

Again with a man advantage, the Canadiens made it 2-1 when Gallagher redirected Petry's sharp pass past Rittich at 17:29.

With 49 seconds left in the second, Drouin scored with a shot between Rittich's arm and the post, and extended his points streak to five games.

Montreal outshot Calgary 22-8 in the second period.

"We were getting chances and it was just about burying them and putting them in the back of the net," said Drouin. "It's easier to keep going when you have your chances."

Lindholm got one back for the Flames at 11:10 of the third, finishing off a give-and-go with Mikael Backlund for his team-leading sixth goal of the year.

Price tied Patrick Roy for second place in team history for most wins by a goaltender with 289.

"Pretty cool experience," said Price of tying Roy. "It was a great night. Overall everybody played well. Great effort from everybody."

CALGARY, Alberta -- The Pittsburgh Penguins scored a lot of goals in Alberta -- 15 in two games, to be exact.

Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel each scored twice and the Penguins pounded the Calgary Flames 9-1 on Thursday night.

Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Jack Johnson, Jake Guentzel and Matt Cullen also scored, and Matt Murray made 38 saves to help the Penguins improve to 5-1-2 overall and 3-0 on a four-game Canadian trip.

"I think that just speaks to the talent we have in here," Murray said. "When we come with our `A' game, it's hard to stop. You look around our lineup and it's pretty clear why we score that many goals."

Crosby has scored three times in his last two games after going six without a goal to start this season. Evgeni Malkin had a pair of assists to extend his point streaks to six straight games.

After winning 3-0 in Toronto, the Penguins (5-1-2) spent a few days in Banff, Alberta, before facing the province's NHL teams.

Crosby theorized the Banff break and a relatively leisurely schedule on this road trip has kept Pittsburgh's scorers fresh.

"It was good that we got out here fairly early to get our feet under us, time change and all that stuff," the captain said. "Banff was a great trip, it's beautiful there and we had some good practices."

James Neal spoiled Murray's shutout bid late in the third period.

Flames starter Mike Smith was pulled for David Rittich midway through the second period after allowing six goals on 21 shots. Rittich turned away 12 of 15 shots.

Four previous games between Calgary and Pittsburgh had either gone to a shootout or overtime, but the Penguins put on a scoring clinic, pouncing on rebounds and converting both power-play chances into goals.

The Flames (5-5) were booed at Scotiabank Saddledome after the second period when they trailed by a converted touchdown, and after the buzzer.

"They scored a few and we started taking some risks that obviously you can't take against a team like that who knows how to put the puck in the net," Flames captain Mark Giordano said.

T.J. Oshie grabs the loose puck off the miss and puts it in the back of the net for the goal, the Capitals eventually beat the Flames 4-3 in a shootout.

CALGARY, Alberta -- Nicklas Backstrom scored the winner in a shootout and goaltender Pheonix Copley earned his first career victory as the Washington Capitals beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 on Saturday.

Matt Niskanen, Jakub Vrana and T.J. Oshie scored goals for Washington, which has won two of three on its Canadian trip.

Playing in his fifth NHL game, Copley stopped 27 of 30 shots in regulation and overtime and four of five in the shootout. The 26-year-old from North Pole, Alaska, hoisted the Stanley Cup with the Capitals last season when he was called up from the American Hockey League for the playoffs. Now he's the backup to Braden Holtby.

Matthew Tkachuk, Travis Hamonic and Elias Lindholm had goals in regulation for Calgary, which lost its third straight. Johnny Gaudreau had two assists to reach 200 for his career.

Sean Monahan scored for the Flames in the shootout. Flames goaltender Mike Smith turned away 24 of 27 shots in regulation and overtime.

Evgeny Kutznetsov scored in the shootout and had a pair of assists for the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin also had an assist.

Tkachuk tied it at 3-3 with 1:27 remaining when he tipped in a shot from the blue line by Rasmus Andersson.

The Caps went ahead 3-2 with about three minutes left in the second period when Niskanen threaded a shot through traffic to beat Smith glove side.

Vrana opened the scoring midway through the first period. Kuznetsov turned a turnover into a two-man rush and dished to Vrana, who beat Smith stick side.

The league's best power play struck at 14:27 when Oshie backhanded a rebound over Smith after Ovechkin's wrist shot.

Fifteen second later, Gaudreau's shot deflected off the leg of Hamonic for the defenseman's first goal of the season. Hamonic missed eight games with a broken jaw suffered in the season opener.

The Flames drew even on Lindholm's power-play goal with just over three minutes left in the first. The Swede one-timed a cross-ice pass from Gaudreau for his seventh goal this season.

Game notes

Flames forward James Neal was hit hard into the boards in the first period. He skated to the bench favoring his left shoulder, but continued to play.

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I think it was Ray Milland who starred in the classic movie, The lost weekend which is what the Flames just experienced. They gutted out a point against Washington after the wretched game against Pittsburgh so lets see.

Rittich to me needs to be given a longer look, smith is slowing down and aging, it might be prejudice on my part because I have always detested him as a player but I have respected his netminding even while disliking his constant flopping and feigning injury to slow the pace of games more than any player in recent memory but I feel he has slipped the bit. This team has a lot of talent but Darren Millard was pointing out that they also have five newcomers and two rookies so they need time to gel. He Bob McKenzie on his podcast this week climbed onto his soapbox about Neal getting third line minutes and how he needs to be bumped up a line at the least which is probably true too.

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Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm and Michael Frolik each score in the Flames' 3-1 win over the Maple Leafs.

TORONTO -- Booed out of their own building after a lopsided loss last week, the Calgary Flames recommitted to their defensive structure and the move paid off against Toronto.

Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm scored in a 55-second span of the third period to lead the Flames to a 3-1 victory over the Maple Leafs on Monday night, snapping a three-game losing streak.

"We put together 60 good minutes," said Lindholm, who leads his team with eight goals after coming over in a blockbuster trade with the Carolina Hurricanes at the NHL draft. "We were above them all night, first to pucks, won battles."

The Leafs lacked jump in their first game without Auston Matthews. It was announced earlier Monday that the center would miss at least four weeks with a left shoulder injury.

"Our last two games have been the way we want to play," Calgary captain Mark Giordano said. "When you play well defensively the goals come."

Monahan snapped a scoreless tie 4:39 into the third on a power play, netting his fifth goal of the season of a rebound of a shot by Lindholm.

Lindholm then gave the Flames, who were 0-2-1 over their last three, a 2-0 edge with his team-leading eighth goal at 6:34 after the Leafs turned the puck over in their own zone.

"I thought they skated, I thought they worked, I thought they sailed out of their zone and beat us up the ice," said Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, whose club was coming off back-to-back wins over the Winnipeg Jets. "The game is frustrating when the other team works harder than you."

Toronto defenseman Igor Ozhiganov hit the post at the other end on the next shift.

The Leafs got to within one at 16:07, when Kadri scored his third of the season and third in as many games on a feed from Mitch Marner, one second after a Toronto two-man advantage of 1:09 expired.

The Leafs pressed for the tie, but were unable to get another one past Smith before Frolik added an insurance goal into an empty net, his fifth goal of the season.

The Flames fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Washington Capitals in Calgary on Saturday -- a result that, despite the final score, was viewed as a step in the right direction after getting blown out 9-1 by the Pittsburgh Penguins at home 48 hours earlier.

Andersen kept things scoreless early in the second when he made a right pad save that stopped Lindholm on a delayed penalty, before Smith stopped Hyman at the other end.

Johnny Gaudreau cut around Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner later in the period, but couldn't get a shot away on Andersen.

The Leafs goalie stopped Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund before John Tavares shoveled a loose puck off a scramble into Smith's open net, but it was just after the buzzer sounded to end the second period.

The 21-year-old Matthews, who doesn't require surgery for his damaged shoulder, was hurt on a clean check by Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba early in the second period of Saturday's 3-2 comeback victory over Winnipeg.

Matthews sustained a similar injury to his other shoulder last February and missed 10 games -- his third stint on the sidelines in 2017-18 following back and concussion problems -- but still managed to finish second on the team in goals (34) and points (63) in just 62 appearances.

He will sit out at least 13 games with this injury, and perhaps more if the recovery process stretches beyond 28 days.

Matthews has 10 goals (tied for second in the NHL) and 16 points (tied for sixth) through 11 games this season.

Calgary held a 12-4 edge in shots, with Toronto's output in the opening 20 minutes tying its lowest in any period in 2018-19.

With their best player on the shelf, the Leafs were forced to shuffle their lines over Saturday's final two periods and again on Monday.

Kadri, who started the campaign as Toronto's No. 3 center, was reunited with Marner and Patrick Marleau after the trio clicked in the second half 2017-18, while Tavares played between Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen to round out the top-six forward group.

The Leafs are also still without winger William Nylander, who was slated to start the season alongside Matthews and Marleau following the addition of Tavares this summer, as the restricted free agent and the club remain at odds over a new contract.

"It's frustrating," Matthews said of his injury prior to Monday's game. "There's not much you can do.

I have also never been a fan of smith, but then again, i also thought Leland Irving was gonna be the stud in net for 10+ years, lol.

Leland Irving! Went from prospect to suspect to backup in the AHL in about two years.

Rittich is a older, without looking it up I think he is what, 27, and not yet established in the NHL. I have of course heard of him for years and Gillies and a Parsons in a pear tree. Not sure if any of them are the next Trevor Kidd or Mike Vernon or the next Reto Berra. It seems that every year the Flames have a new one and by years end they have moved on to someone else.

Johnny Gaudreau flies down the ice and receives the pass then puts it in the back of the net as the Flames take down the Sabres 2-1 in overtime.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Johnny Gaudreau's magic touch has the Calgary Flames pointed back in the right direction.

One day after setting up the winning goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Gaudreau scored 2:40 into overtime to lead the Flames to a 2-1 comeback victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

He did it in style, too. After Matthew Tkachuk scored with 55.3 seconds in the third period, Gaudreau and Mark Giordano completed a pretty give-and-go that left Gaudreau alone with an open net.

"You enjoy it," Calgary coach Bill Peters said of Gaudreau, his leading scorer. "I've been on the other side of it, obviously, I've seen him in the league long enough. I just like the way he goes about it. He's a passionate player and gets rewarded for his effort."

The Flames (7-5-1) have bounced back with impressive back-to-back wins on the road after a homestand to forget. Calgary lost 9-1 to Pittsburgh on Thursday before a 4-3 overtime loss to Washington on Saturday.

"We're getting where we want to be," Giordano said. "Tonight was solid again, I didn't think we gave up much. We're getting to where we know what to expect out of each other defensively and we're not cheating offense and that's resulting in wins."

Down 1-0, the Flames took charge in the third, controlling the flow of play and outshooting Buffalo 5-1. They pulled goaltender David Rittich with more than two minutes remaining, which set up Tkachuk's equalizer. Tkachuk tipped a hard shot from Elias Lindholm that was also deflected by Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and then again off the ice.

The Sabres (6-4-2) were left frustrated after spoiling a terrific effort by goalie Carter Hutton. Hutton made 36 saves and was outstanding throughout the game.

"I just feel bad for him," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "He's really given us some really good, solid goaltending and he's been asked to stand on his head and that's unfortunate. ... He was our best player once again. He gave us a chance to win."

Eichel put the Sabres on the board first with a power-play goal with 3:30 left in the first period. The Sabres captain ripped a one-timer from the left circle into the top of the net, ending an eight-game goal drought.

"We didn't play well," Eichel said. "Obviously, they outplayed us and we didn't deserve to win that game."

The Flames appeared to even the score at the start of the second period but officials ruled that a whistle blew before the puck went into the net. After a highlight-reel stick save by Hutton prevented Lindholm's shot from crossing the goal line, the puck went into the net on a second opportunity -- but officials had already blown the whistle. A replay review upheld the decision.

"I liked the composure on the bench," Peters said of the disallowed goal. "Had a little adversity there and then moved on."

Rittich made 28 saves for the Flames.

The Sabres have points in five straight games (3-0-2) for the first time since a nine-game point streak in 2012.

Sean Monahan, James Neal and Mark Giordano score in the Flames' 6-5 comeback win over the Avalanche.

CALGARY, Alberta -- Down by three goals going into the third period, the Calgary Flames were far from done.

Mark Giordano had a goal and two assists, and Calgary scored five straight times in the third to rally past the Colorado Avalanche 6-5 on Thursday night.

With the game tied 4-all, Giordano scored the go-ahead goal at 13:47 when he jumped up into the rush, took a pass from Mikael Backlund and snapped a shot over the blocker of goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

"If you're coming in late and their forwards are scrambling back, sometimes things open up," said Giordano, who has two goals and 12 assists this season. "I was happy (Backlund) found me there, it was a good spot to shoot from."

Backlund, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, James Neal and Michael Frolik also scored for the Flames (8-5-1), who have won three straight. Matthew Tkachuk added three assists.

It's already the fourth time this season the Flames have come back to win when trailing after two periods.

Colin Wilson, Vladislav Kamenev, Sheldon Dries, Carl Soderberg and Gabriel Landeskog scored for Colorado (7-4-2), which has lost three of four.

It was the first career goal for both Kamenev and Dries.

"Five goals in the third is a lot. Give credit to them, but we definitely had a hand in letting them come back," said Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, who was held off the scoresheet and ended up minus-3.

Trailing 4-1 after two periods, Calgary began its comeback 47 seconds into the third on Lindholm's power-play goal, his team-leading ninth goal of the season.

The man advantage was the result of a charging major on Ian Cole late in the second period after his heavy hit crumpled Mark Jankowski as he was looking back for a pass. Shaken up, Jankowski went to the dressing room.

He returned to sit on the bench in the third, but did not play. After the game, he was deemed healthy.

It was the response to the hit from Sam Bennett, who immediately fought Cole, that players pointed to as the turning point.

"He's a feisty little kid. He definitely knows how to throw them," Backlund said. "That gave the team some momentum and some energy. Great job by him stepping up for the team and for Janko. It brought a lot of energy into the room going into the third."

The Flames drew within one at 5:21 when Monahan deflected Noah Hanifin's point shot.

The Saddledome crowd then roared at 10:52 when Neal got the puck in the slot and ripped a shot past Varlamov for his third goal and a tie game.

"It felt good, obviously, for me," said Neal, who had been off to a slow start with just two goals in his first 13 games. "Personally, I want to score goals, you want to help the team win. It's been a little bit of tough sledding here at the start, but I've been through it before. You just try to stick with it and you get rewarded like I did tonight."

The sequence leading up to Neal's goal began when rookie defenseman Juuso Valimaki caught Matt Calvert with a body check at the blue line, turning the puck over.

"He timed it perfect and to be able to keep the puck in the zone, all in one shot. That was a real turning point, too," Giordano said. "Really put them back on their heels and then we kept going."

Just more than a minute after Giordano's go-ahead goal, Frolik made it a two-goal lead, one-timing Tkachuk's feed for his sixth goal.

The Avalanche got a power-play goal from Landeskog at 18:57 to set up a harrowing finish.

Landeskog's goal first appeared to be Wilson's second of the game before the Colorado captain was credited with his 11th of the season. Wilson picked up an assist on the play.

Mike Smith got the win despite giving up five goals on 26 shots. He improved to 5-4-1.

Varlamov, who entered with a 1.62 goals-against average and .950 save percentage, made 31 saves. The five goals he allowed in the third period came on just 11 shots.

"Lack of detail and lack of commitment," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We resorted back to bad habits like circling away from the puck."

Calgary was controlling the game, outshooting the Avs 17-4, when a stray pass from Giordano resulted in Kamenev breaking up the ice on a short-handed 2-on-1 and scoring his first career goal.

Less than two minutes later, Dries got his first NHL goal when his rebound banked off the skate of Rasmus Andersson in the slot and went into the net.

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Man the Flames are a fun bunch, flawed, yes, in many ways but young stars and something for everyone.
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